The art of hydrogenating hydrocarbons by processes identified with hydrotreating, hydrofining and catalytic desulfurization of sulfur containing hydrocarbons in the presence of hydrogen at elevated temperatures up to about 1000.degree. F. and at elevated pressures up to about 200 atmospheres is well known at this stage of the art. Furthermore, a wide range of catalyst compositions have been proposed for effecting such hydrogenating reactions including the oxides and sulfides of, for example, aluminum, iron, nickel, cobalt, chromium, molybdenum, copper, manganese, tungsten and mixtures thereof including materials such as molybdates, thiomolydates, tungstates, and aluminates of metals of the VI Group of the Periodic Table, either alone or in combination with other catalyst. Pore size distributions of selective ranges for various catalyst compositions have been used with varying degrees of success depending upon the contaminants to be removed, the composition of the charge being processed and the severity of the operation to achieve a desired result. The investment and operating costs of such processes vary considerably, depending on efficiency of utilization of available equipment, source of reacting constituents and the severity of the operation obtainable with the equipment available to maintain desired operating temperature, pressure and hydrogen to hydrocarbon conditions.
The present invention is concerned with modification and/or improvements in available equipment permitting increased throughput in a given process arrangement and reactor system without adversely effecting hydrogenation.